How Beijing is using its dominance in rare earth mining and processing as a long-term economic weapon—controlling key inputs for defense systems, EVs, smartphones, and advanced chips, and how partial pauses in export curbs still leave the U.S. exposed.
Briggs argues this conflict is a direct strike at China’s economic lifeline, not just a regional dust-up in the Middle East.
With fourth-quarter 2025 GDP revised down to just 0.7% annualized and inflation still running close to 3%, many Americans are feeling what economists fear most: a slow‑growth economy with stubbornly high prices – the textbook setup for stagflation. Your recent coverage on the GDP report and rising recession fears is exactly where Christian Briggs believes the conversation needs to go next: from headlines to “now what?” for savers, retirees, and small business owners.
A new global economic front is emerging — one defined not by oil, but by critical minerals. As China intensifies its control over mineral processing and promotes gold- and commodity-backed rivals to the dollar, Washington is racing to defend U.S. financial dominance.
Christian Briggs, CEO of Hard Asset Management and a veteran economist in hard assets since the late 1980s, is available for in-studio or remote interviews to break down this developing story.
In February 2026, the State Department hosted the first-ever Critical Minerals Ministerial, uniting more than 50 nations to build a secure supply chain and trading framework that intentionally leaves China out. Analysts are already calling it a “Minerals NATO” — a new economic alliance designed to preserve Western leverage in global markets.
How President Trump’s tariffs are igniting a historic manufacturing renaissance in America. As a leading voice on economic policy and supply chain resilience, Christian can break down the data-driven wins proving tariffs are bringing jobs and production home.
